, 1887-06-11
AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE.

H.. -
Nerve and Skill of the Canadian voya-
g~eur-The Fur Hunter.
Running a rapid is one of the most ex-
citing experiences of a boatman's life.
Yet the risks habitually taken by the
Canadian voyageurs accustomed them to
face death in this way without hesitation.
When descending IN unknown stream,
an ominous roar would suddenly an
ounce the danger from below, from
which retreat was impossible. Then cool
ness and action quick as thought alone
could guide the boat through the foam
ing waters. when rocks on every hand
threatened destruction.
There was excitement enough in shoot
ing a rapid when the adventure was
made deliberately. If the pass were a
dangerous one, the boats were commonly
ightened of part or all their load. Then,
as the current began to quicken, the bow
man and the steersman would rise from
their seats, and quickly seizing their
short paddles brace their knees against
the gunwale of bow and stern to steady
themselves and the boat. Immersing
the blades of their paddles deep in the
water so that the edges cut along with
little resistance, they awaited the mo-
ment of action, while the oarsmen re-
doubled the force of their strokes that
the boat might have an impetus of its
own swifter than the current. Thus the
frail bark plunged downward into the
seething waters, with the merry boat
song of the Canadian voyageur mingling
with the voice of the waters, while his
Indian companion was silent and stern as
death. Into the midst of the fierce cur
rents, whirled here by an eddy and
thrown with a crash against a bowider
there, the boat was steered from side to
side out of the way of the obstructing
rocks by the united, daring action of the
bowman and steersman, until at length,
If wreck was escaped, they emerged into
the quiet waters below.
Upon the skill and nerve of bowman
and steersman the safety of life and cargo
depended, and their pay was often two or
three times as much as that of the oars
men, who merely propelled the craft. 1t
was the custom of the merry boatmen, as
they Justify piled their paddles, to strike
into a Canadian barcarole. And at
length the Indian SO far forgot his tact
turnity as to take up the custom of sing
ing, which enabled him to keep better
time and to paddle more steadily. 1t
became the settled custom among the
natives of British Columbia for the
steersman to lead the song and for the
crew to join in the chorus only.
When the streams were frozen over,
the boats, of course, were laid aside, and
then the fur hunters would bring in their
packs On snowshoes or with sledges
drawn by dogs. The dogs sled was
usually about nine feet long and sixteen
inches in width, made of thin oak or
birch boards turned up in front, and
lashed together with deer thongs. From
200 to 400 pounds on n of these could
DO drawn by four dogs twenty-five or
thirty-five miles a day.
The voyageurs loved to decorate any
part of their dress with plumes and
many colored ribbons, with the ends
floating gayly in the breeze. Leggins
were frequently worn, and when the cold
was intense two or three suits would be
put on at once Ornamental moccasins
covered their feet, while brilliant cotton
handkerchief were tied sailor fashion
around their swarthy necks, and from
the scarlet belt was suspended knife and
tobacco pouch. Some wore coarse cloth
caps, while others wound around their
long black hair a colored handkerchief in
the shape of a turban. Occasionally
black beaver hats were seen among the
more foppish, and bonnets, bound with
gold and silver tinsei cords, almost hidden
under feathers and tassels.
For food the fur hunter took what he
could get, and as a rule his chief Deepen
dence was his rifle. Meat was his chief
food, and was eaten fresh or dried.
Sometimes for months and even years he
tasted neither bread, salt nor vegetables.
Fish, flesh r fowl was all his larder con-
tanned, and he wa well contented to have
1t full even of his sole ~sustenance. A
voyageur's rations varied in the several
parts of the fur hunting region. Thus,
in New Caledonia a dried salmon or eight
rabbits might be given him for his days
food; at Athabasca it would be eight
pounds of oos meat; on the Saskatche-
man ten pounds of buffalo flesh; while in
the far north his fare would be half fish
and half reindeer.
Pemmican was the great staple pre-
served food, and the fur trader learned
how to prepare it from the Indians. The
flesh commonly used was that of the
buffalo, elk, deer or antelope, and for
long keeping it was prepared with fat,
spices and raisins. 1t was prepared by
cutting lean flesh into thin slices, which
were cured by partly cooking, by expos
ing to u Oh frost, or by placing on a
wooden CRATE over a slow fire. When
dried 1t was pounded between two stones
until pulverized, and then it was placed
in a bag made of the animals hide.
After being mixed with about equal pro-
portions of the animals fat the bag was
sewed up, and after it had cooled and
hardened it was ready for storage or
transportation. A 100 pound bag, three
feet long and ten inches square, would
comfortably sustain four men a month
Compiled from Hubert Howe B~ancroft's
History of the Northwest Coast.